Artigos de Revista

Railway track designers and maintenance entities have long been pursuing for a robust and reliable method topredict the track

In the present work, and for the first time, totally biosourced low-density particleboardswere produced using cardoon particles (a no added value by-product from the Portuguese cheese making industry), bound with a potato starch adhesive. Different starch/cardoon ratios (0.6, 0.8, 1 and 1.2) were tested and the effect of different bio-based additives (chitosan, wood fiber and glycerol) on the performance of the adhesive system was evaluated. The best result was obtained for a formulationwith a starch/cardoon mass ratio of 0.8, a chitosan/starch mass ratio of 0.05 and a water/starch mass ratio of 1.75. The particleboards produced had a density of 323 kg-m-3, internal bond strength of 0.35 N.mm-2 and thickness swelling of 15.2%. The values of density and internal bond strength meet the standard requirements of general-purpose lightweight boards for use in dry conditions according to CEN/TS 16368 specification. Moreover, the susceptibility of the formulations with best results was established against subterranean termites and one decay fungi.

There is a need for new solutions in wood protection against marine wood borers andtermites in Europe. A new solution could be the esterification of wood with sorbitol and citric acid(SCA) since these are inexpensive and readily available feedstock chemicals and have shownprotective properties against fungal wood degradation in earlier studies and preventedmacrobiological degradation, as shown in this study. Protection of wood products in the marineenvironment lacks available wood preservatives that are approved for marine applications. Termiteinfestation is opposed mainly by biocide treatments of wood. Several wood modification systemsshow high resistance against both marine borers and subterranean termites. However, the existingcommercialized wood modification products are costly. Both macrobiological forms of degradationrepresent a great threat for most European wood species, which are rapidly and severely degradedif not properly treated. This study investigated esterified wood in standard field trials againstmarine wood borers, and against subterranean termites in laboratory trials in a no-choice and choicetest. The treatment showed good resistance against wood borers in the marine environment afterone season and against subterranean termites in the laboratory after eight weeks. The low termitesurvival rate (SR) in the no-choice test during the first week of testing indicates a mode of actionthat is incomparable to other wood modification treatments.

Due to its average mechanical properties, poplar, a fast-growing species, has been disfavored compared to stronger species for several decades. Wood-based products may help changing that perspective and thus, poplar has been gaining its marketshare for structural uses. A state-of-the-art review concerning the use of poplar to produce glued laminated products, with special focus on the use of Portuguese poplar, is presented. The Portuguese forest produces a great variety of species. Themost common poplar species found in this country are Populus x canadensis, P. nigra L., and P. alba L. Despite its limited availability, and the market hesitation on its structural application, recent studies on poplar grown in the Portuguese forestshowed its suitability for structural purposes. Glued laminated timber (GLT) beams made with this species revealed a very promising mechanical behavior. Bending strength tests evidenced a ductile behavior on more than 70% of the beams, whichmotivated deepening the study on the raw material used to produce those beams. To predict the mechanical behavior of such beams, a 3D numerical model was developed. The numerically predicted results were compared with the experimental ones,showing very good agreement between both approaches.

A avaliação de desempenho é uma importante ferramenta de gestão no setor da água e a sua integração na gestão dos sistemas de águas pluviais (SAP) poderá constituir uma mais-valia para as entidades gestoras. Neste sentido, identificou-se a necessidade de desenvolver uma metodologia de avaliação de desempenho de SAP, que seja abrangente, objetiva, padronizada e flexível na sua aplicação. A metodologia apresentada é composta por objetivos, critérios de avaliação e indicadores de desempenho (ID), que constituem etapas de relevo na avaliação de desempenho.

A avaliação da segurança sísmica de edifícios existentes de alvenaria tem como referência os procedimentos dispostos na NP EN 1998-3:2017 (Anexo C) e o respetivo Anexo Nacional, que estabelecem os requisitos de desempenho e os critérios de conformidade para edifícios existentes sujeitos a um determinado nível de ação sísmica. No seguimento das exigências regulamentares, e à luz da verificação da segurança à ação sísmica preconizada na norma, realizaram-se análises probabilísticas de vulnerabilidade sísmica e fiabilidade estrutural a um grande conjunto de edifícios de alvenaria representativos do parque habitacional, que conduziram ao desenvolvimento de métodos expeditos para a avaliação sísmica em alternativa à verificação pelo método de referência. Os métodos propostos permitem avaliar a resistência sísmica de edifícios de alvenaria com pavimentos rígidos, sem recurso a análises numéricas e recorrendo apenas a parâmetros geométricos (Método I) ou em conjunto com as propriedades mecânicas dos materiais (Método II).

The purpose of this work is to assess the influence of the aggregates' properties on the hygric and mechanical behaviour of Portland cement mortars. This assessment allows the establishment of a close relationship between the mortars' performance and its pore size distribution, which is very sensitive to the aggregates' characteristics: It was found that the grain size distribution is the dominant parameter influencing the pore size distribution of the coarse porosity of Portland cement mortars, while the mineralogy and its potential reactivity characteristics have an important role on the volume of the coarse and gel porosity. The main outcome shows a remarkable increase of mechanical strength in mortars with low volume and diameter pore size in the coarse porosity. Moreover, a high average of connected large capillary diameter pores is, in general, associated with an increase of the water flow.

The analysis and control of deformability of wall coating mortars contributes to minimize crack development and propagation, one of the most common anomalies in building facades. Many of these cracks appear due to internal stresses in the coating mortar, because of imposed deformations or of imposed restrictions by the substrate. These deformability studies should include one or more experimental methods to determine the modulus of elasticity (E) of the coating mortars in question. There are two approaches to experimentally determine E for mortar specimens: static and dynamic experimental methodologies. For civil engineering applications, the results obtained from static methodologies are more adequate than those obtained with dynamic methodologies. However, since static E results are scarce due to a lack of an established static methodology for mortars, mainly due to their lower mechanical resistance, friable behaviour and higher frailty when compared to concrete, engineers are led to use the established dynamic methodologies. This paper proposes an experimental methodology to determine the static E for moulded mortars specimens. The methodology was adapted from the standard procedure used for concrete specimens, to accommodate the specific characteristics of mortar specimens, namely: provide reliable displacement and applied load data; solve issue related to specific mechanical characteristics of mortar specimens, such as low strength and friable behaviour. This methodology was applied to standard moulded mortar specimens made from multiple mineral binders (cement, hydraulic lime and air lime). In order to validate it, the obtained results were compared with two, well-established, dynamic experimental methodologies (Resonance Frequency and Ultrasonic methodologies) as well as with reference values from relevant bibliography. Using the previous data, this paper also includes a preliminary analysis on the ratios between static and dynamic E values for the studied mortars, representing another objective of this study.

No artigo e depois de se desenvolverem algumas notas de enquadramento relativas a um uso mais intenso e prolongado dos espaços exteriores privados habitacionais, avança-se para uma reflexão sobre hábitos considerados interessantes no mesmo exterior privado, e seguindo-se uma abordagem das condições de conforto e funcionalidade no uso do exterior privado. Numa segunda parte do artigo, mais pormenorizada, abordam-se, sequencialmente, as importantes e sempre sensíveis opções de encerramento e proteção no exterior privado, de disponibilização de vistas e de condições de apropriação dos/nos espaços exteriores privados residenciais.